A Guide On Home-Made Dog Treats

T here are a number of reasons why you would want to give your pup some delicious home–made dog treats. For one, branded dog treats can be expensive; and if your pupper is a really good boy like mine, you want to give him many of them, all the time! Another reason could be that you want to be conscious of the ingredients your pet ingests. Whatever the reason may be, it is useful to know a few tasty recipes in case your darling canine friend wants to try something new once in a while.

Why Invest in Home-Made Dog Treats?

Avoid Preservatives and Other Ingredients

Store-bought treats may be delicious and enjoyable for your pup, but they contain preservatives and other ingredients that might not be the best for their health. When you end up making treats from scratch, you will use fresh ingredients and will have your dog’s health at the forefront of your mind. Plus, store-bought treats sometimes contain filler ingredients that have no nutritious value for dogs. When you make something yourself, your dog will get something tasty that is also great for their health!

Cut Down on Pet Expenses

I don’t know about the rest of you, but a large amount of my monthly expenditure is dedicated to my pets. Branded food for cats and dogs, especially if it is of good quality, nutritious, and tasty, is fairly expensive. In fact, if you have more than one pet, you may as well empty your pockets at the beginning of the month. The good thing about home-made dog treats is that they are easy on the pocket, and if you make them in bulk, they last you a very long time at a quarter of the price.

Now that we have convinced you to make your own home-made dog treats, read on for a perfect recipe you should know by heart. This recipe requires minimum ingredients and can be easily made in a single day. You can even tweak it around based on what flavors your dog is more familiar with.

Peanut Butter Treats

These treats smell delicious, so you don’t have to wrinkle your nose every time you give your dog one. Plus, they are human-safe in case a child ingests them. Now, to get down to the ingredients.

Ingredients

For the Treats:

1 cup flour (if your dog is allergic to wheat, try rice flour)

½ cup peanut Butter

1 egg

½ cup water

1 tbsp honey

For Frosting:

½ cup cornstarch 

2 tbsp peanut butter

1 tbsp honey

3-4 tbsp hot water

Method

Now that you have these simple ingredients lined up, it is time to get the dough rolling. But first, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine all these ingredients in a mixing bowl and knead them into a soft dough. It doesn’t matter if the consistency is too hard, you can always add a little bit more water to make it softer. 

Once you have the dough, it’s time to get your rolling pin and spread it out flat. Keep rolling until you have the desired thickness. And now, we cut! You can use your Christmas cookie cutters for this part. But if you want to go all out, you can get a bone-shaped cookie cutter to go all out for your canine friend. 

Line up the biscuits on a baking tray lined with butter paper. Make sure they are not too close together, otherwise they might stick to each other.

Now, we bake!

Let the treats bake for about 10-15 minutes. For smaller ones, make sure you don’t bake for too long, otherwise they might burn from the bottom. Once they turn golden, remove them from the oven and set aside to cool while you make the frosting.

For the frosting, melt the peanut butter and honey in a bowl in the microwave. Once fully melted, combine it with the cornstarch in hot water. The consistency will be quite thick and will solidify over the treat one you drizzle it on, making it easier to store.

And voila!

The peanut butter in this recipe can be substituted for any other flavor that dogs enjoy, such as sweet potato or pumpkin.

Let us know how much your pup enjoyed these delicious delicacies you made for them from scratch, and happy cooking!